On the weekend of February 13 and 14, the Gaelic College in St Ann’s hosted another well-attended Language Immersion Weekend using the Gàidhlig Aig Baile (GAB) immersion methodology.
The weekend brought together over 35 learners from many communities who share a love for the language and the culture.
Language classes were conducted at 4 levels: Beginner with instructor Lewis MacKinnon, Advanced Beginner with Bernie Cameron, Intermediate with Hector MacNeil, and Advanced with Joe Murphy.Two song workshops were held on Saturday afternoon, one for the Beginner/Advanced Beginner students; one for the Intermediate/Advanced students.
Prior to the Saturday evening milling frolic, Hector MacNeil led a “Conversation at the Milling Table” Workshop. Students were taught some common conversation phrases such as:
- “A bheil an t-òran seo agad?” - Do you know this song?
- “Tha ceathramh no dhà agam.” – I have a verse or two.
- “Tha a’ fonn agam air.” - I have the chorus/air.
- “Se òran math a th’ann.” - It’s a good song.
- “Se seann, seann òran a tha siud.” - That’s an old, old song.
- “Siuthad!” - Go ahead!
- “Gabh òran!” - Sing a song!
With their newly acquired phrases, the milling frolic began. Many songs were shared throughout the evening with lots of Gaelic conversation in between as students practiced what they learned in the “Conversation at the Milling Table” workshop.
The weekend finished up Sunday afternoon with a Gaelic storytelling session featuring some great stories from the Gaelic community in Nova Scotia. As is so often done these days, the storytelling was conducted in Gaelic with English translation.
Students attend the weekends in order to learn the language but there are other important benefits as well. Hector is convinced that it is important that students get to spend time with and enjoy the company of people who, like them, are working to reclaim their language and all that goes with it.
The next weekend will be held April 10 – 11 with early arrival Friday night April 9. For more information, visit the Gaelic College website at www.gaeliccollege.edu.Don’t miss out! Register today.
L-R Joe Murphy, Lewis MacKinnon, Hector MacNeil, Bernard Cameron
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